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THE 



Topography I Physical Resources 



OF THE 



State of New York, 






AN ADDRESS 

Delivered by E Gr B E R T L . VIELE, before the 

AMERICAN GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, 



Of) 



^pril 29, 18ft. 



E.S.Dodge & Co., Printers, 12 Warren Street, N. Y. 



The regular monthly meeting of the American Geographical 
Society was held April 29th at Association Hall, at Twenty-third 
Street and Fourth Avenue. The chair was occupied by Chief 
Justice Daly, President of the Society. Col. F. A. Conkling, 
Vice-President, read the following names, which had been added 
to the list of members : Mayor Wickham, George Wilkes, Charles 
Francis Stone, Gen. Alfred H. Terry, United States Army ; Gen. 
James H. Kuger, United States Army ; Gen. John Pope, United 
States Army ; James P. Carson, District Attorney Phelps, John 

A. Davenport, E. M. Daniels, George M. Curtis, Justice Kasmire, 
Justice Otterbourg, Alderman Monheimer, Edward Oothout, 
P. Roessle, of Washington, and Lawrence D. Kiernan. The fol- 
lowing were elected corresponding members : Rev. J. P. De 
Haas, United States Consul at Jerusalem, and E. Greenville, 
Murray, Paris. 

Among those present were Rev. Dr. William Adams, Samuel 

B. Ruggles, Gen. George W. Cullum, United States Army ; Wil- 
liam H. H. Moore, Francis A. Stout, Col. F. A. Conkling, Wil- 
liam Remsen, Elial F. Hall, Alexander McL. Agnew, and Isaac 
Bernheimer. 

The President, in a few remarks, referred to the remarkable 
features in the physical geography of the State of New York, 
and introduced to the Society, General Egbert L. Viele, who 
delivered the following 

ADDRESS 

ON THE 

Topography and Physical Resources of the 
State of New York. 

Mr. President and Members of the Geographical Society : 

Several years have elapsed since the subject of a topographical 
survey of the State of New York was made a matter of special 
report by a committee of the American Geographical Society, 
consisting of Mr. John Jay, Mr. F. A. Conkling and myself, 
This report, which is found in the Bulletin of the Society for 



1856, Vol. 2, presents a clear statement of the great value of such 
a survey, and was followed by a memorial to the State Legisla- 
ture ; but, as the object sought to be attained was more general 
than local in its character, it did not receive that individual at- 
tention which seems to be requisite to success in all legislative 
action. Hence, this important public measure was suffered to 
pass unnoticed, and has remained unacted upon to this day. 

As a member of the committee referred to, the subject awak- 
ened in my mind a very deep interest, increased by a natural feel- 
ing of State pride, eventuating, through the coincidence of pro- 
fessional proclivities, in the accumulation of a large amount of 
data pertaining to it, and at length resulting in the preparation 
of a topographical map of the State, which, while making no 
claim to the accuracy of a Geodetic survey, has nevertheless, the 
merit of general truthfulness, and on the scale to which it is 
drawn, renders unappreciable many unavoidable errors of detail, 
while at the same time, it furnishes a clear exponent of those 
grand physical developments, which constitute the wealth of the 
State and excite the just pride of its citizens. 

A complete description of the natural features of the State, and 
its vast mineral and industrial resources, would furnish mate- 
rial for many interesting volumes. In fact, a score of volumes 
upon this subject already exist, the results of careful and pro- 
longed examinations, extending through a period of many years, 
and embracing nearly all the branches of natural History. These 
pages, while reflecting the highest degree of credit upon the sci- 
entific skill and assiduity of their authors, are deprived of much 
of their value by the absence of accurate topographical maps, upon 
which the information acquired could be graphically delineated. 

While the map now executed may not entirely suffice for all the 
purposes of this delineation, it exhibits nevertheless, the physical 
characteristics of the State in their relative proportion, while the 
gradual changes of its natural features, through the successive 
stages of continental development, can be traced in no uncertain 
lines. 

THE INDIVIDUALITY OF THE STATE. 

No other one of the United States possesses such a marked 
individuality as the State of New York. Whether we regard the 
magnitude and extent of its rivers and lakes, the grandeur and 
beauty of its scenery, its broad and productive valleys, its lofty 
mountain chains, its successful plans of internal improvement, 



3 

or its teeming population and busy industry, we find it in its ex- 
panse of territory, its fertile soil and genial climate, in the general 
distribution of its enormous aggregate of water-power, and in all 
its vast accumulation of material resources, an " imperium in 
imperio," without an equal, and without a rival. 

Possessing the natural highway to the populous and luxuriant 
West, and the gateway to the Canadas, it has acquired a promi- 
nent position in the confederacy of States, and its metropolis has 
become the commercial entrepot and financial centre of the con- 
tinent. Its position in the Past has been no less commanding 
than it is in the Present. 

Its annals form a complete chapter in the history of American 
civilization. Its statesmen and soldiers have been pre-eminent 
in the council and the field ; and the fires of patriotism have 
always burned brightly upon the altars of its people. "While 
in the more remote past, those early days of conquest and set- 
tlement, when life was a daily and hourly struggle to subdue at 
once the wilderness and its savage inhabitants, the history of 
the State is but one long record of self-sacrifice and heroic deeds, 
worthy of any race and nation that has ever lived. No less re- 
markable is the history of the aboriginal tribes who occupied the 
State from the ocean to the Lakes, when the European landed on 
its shores. The Iroquois or Six Nations, ranked the first among 
the Red Men of America. They were far in advance of all their 
barbarian compeers. They had a confederation for offence and 
defence, and possessed the elements of a rude civilization. They 
welcomed the white man when he came, and shared with him 
their substance, while their rude industry became the first wealth of 
the colonists. By their skill and superior intelligence, and their 
bravery, they dominated over all the tribes east of the Alle- 
ghanies, and south to the Gulf of Mexico, and have been not 
inaptly termed the Romans of the Western world, for their ora- 
tors were as eloquent as Cicero, and their warriors as brave as the 
legions of Ceesar. Yet .this once powerful race, these chieftains 
" to the manner born," whose council fires were as numberless as 
the stars in Heaven, have passed from the face of the Earth, and 
left no monument to tell of why they lived, or how they died. 
Over their graves, powerful nations have disputed for the mas- 
tery of the soil, and in the progress of events, all vestiges of the 
aborigines have been obliterated. In a single century the race 
has disappeared from its borders, and in that short period of time, 
the homes and temples of a new civilization have filled all its lim- 



its. The wilderness has been made to blossom as the rose ; op- 
ulent and populous cities rise up on every hand, while nearly 
five millions of people, representing the arts and industries of 
every nation, have under the eegis of a free government and sal- 
utary laws, achieved a degree of general prosperity heretofore 
unknown among any people. That this prosperity is due in a 
large measure to the geographical position occupied by the State, 
and in a still greater degree to the topographical configuration 
of the surface, is clearly shown by an examination of those physi- 
cal characteristics, the principal features of which it is the object 
of this paper to delineate. 

THE GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION OF THE STATE. 

The geographical limits of the State extend from 71° 50' to 70° 
of longitude west from Greenwich— and from 40° 29' 40" to 45' 0' 
42" north latitude, embracing 8° of longitude, and 5° of latitude, 
being 320 miles long and 312 miles broad, and containing 47,156 
square miles, or 30,179,840 acres. On the north is Lake Ontario, 
containing 6,900 square miles, and the St. Lawrence River and 
Canada. On the east are Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecti- 
cut. On the south are New Jersey and Pennsylvania. On the 
west Lake Erie, containing 7,800 square miles and a portion of 
Canada. The area included within these limits is in many re- 
spects the most remarkable portion of the American Continent. 
Geology tells us that of all the land now in existence, the first 
that rose above the waste of waters in the earliest periods of 
creation, lies within these borders ; that long ere the crags of 
Jura, the heights of Chimborazo, or the lofty Cordilleras were 
created, the sun shone here upon the shore of a vast ocean, whose 
limits were the great globe itself. That while yet the sites of 
Babylon and of Tyre, of Carthage and of Rome, were hidden 
beneath the sea, created life moved along the old silurian beach, 
whose tidal lines across the State are as distinctly marked to-day 
as they were when the waves of the primitive ocean beat upon 
the shore. The successive geological evolutions which have been 
wrought out during the long ages that since then have come and 
gone are inscribed upon these mountains, hills and valleys as upon 
the pages of a book where science reads the history of the material 
world. On no other continent and in no other spot are the 
records of the past so clearly defined or so easily read. In seek- 
ing a key with which to analyze and describe the topographical 
characteristics which have thus been developed, we find that the 



mountain system of the State is the extension and m part the 
termination of the great Appalachian chain which forms the east- 
erly range of the continental system of mountains. This broad 
series of parallel ridges, with intervening valleys, which extends 
from near the Gulf of Mexico on the south, to the Gulf of St 
Lawrence on the north, having a mean elevation of 2,500 feet 
(at one point rising as high as (3,000 feet), forms an almost insur- 
mountable barrier between the Atlantic coast and the interior of 
the continent. As it enters the State of New York from the 
south, this mountain range, which in some places is 200 miles 
broad, becomes narrowed and depressed, and while a portion of it 
sinks beneath the later sedimentary formations which overlie the 
greater part of the State, another portion, passing to the east 
li the Hudson River and across the State of Massachusetts, forms 
in ^continuation the Green Mountains of Vermont and the 
White Mountains of New Hampshire. At West Point on the 
Hudson, where this formation is developed in all its grandeur, 
the mountain chain is riven asunder, and the lordly river whose 
deep channel would float the navies of the world, passes on ma- 
jestically to the ocean. No scenery on the continent can rival 
the Highlands of the Hudson at this point ; and when we consider 
that this is the only spot where the thousand miles of rocky 
barrier is broken, giving to the State of New York the key with 
which commerce has opened the treasure house of the West, and 
brought from thence the willing tribute of its abundance to this 
great city of the sea ; when we find a similar result although 
on a scale less grand and imposing, produced by the remarkable 
erosion of the valley of the Mohawk, thus extending the facilities 
of commerce to the great lakes-we no longer wonder at the 
events which one century has brought about. Eighty years ago 
there were more people living in Massachusetts than m New 
. York, also in Pennsylvania and even in North Carolina, and 
Virginia had double the population of this State; whi e 
to-day New York has a million more inhabitants than the whole 

country had at that time. 

To understand more fully the influence of these topographi- 
cal lines of lowest level, we have only to compare the gradients 
oi the railways which extend from the Atlantic to the West 
All the railways south of this line extending from the sea coast 
to the lakes and Mississippi Valley, pass the mountain range 
at various elevations; the Erie Road at an elevation of ^800 
feet with grades of 90 feet per mile ; the Pennsylvania Road 



at an elevation of 2,200 feet with grades of 125 feet to the 
mile ; the Baltimore and Ohio at an elevation of 2,600 
feet, with grades for 15 continuous miles of 116 feet ; and the 
Chesapeake Road in Virginia at 2,000 feet, with corresponding 
grades ; while from the Hudson at or near Catskill to the Mohawk 
a distance of 53 miles, the entire ascent is but 220 feet, which can be 
overcome by grades not exceeding 30 feet to the mile, and the 
highest summit thence to Lake Erie of 193 feet is overcome at 
grades not exceeding 20 feet to the mile, while the remainder of 
the line is characterized by a generally level grade. Now, as the 
cost of draught on a railway is nearly as the power employed, so 
that it costs twice as much to carry a load with an ascending 
grade of 24 feet as to carry it on a level route, and as this element 
of railway construction increases in importance with the increase 
of traffic, the value to the State of its low level line of transpor- 
tation is apparent. 

THE RIVER SYSTEM OF THE STATE. 
The river system in its influence on the general prosperity of 
the State is even more remarkable than its mountains, whether 
we view it as a system of drainage, for this widely extended ter- 
ritory, or regard it as the local and concentrated source of a semi- 
continental river system, whose waters wash the borders of half 
the States of the Union ; or whether we contemplate its wonder- 
ful adaptability in nearly all its wide-spread ramifications to the 
industrial interests of the inhabitants of every section of the 
State, and the transportation facilities it affords for internal 
commerce. It may almost be said, that every drop of water 
that falls upon the surface is conserved for a useful purpose. 
Wherever a stream ceases to be navigable it becomes a mill- 
power, and the great value of those inequalities which at first 
glanca give a rugged aspect to the surface, becomes apparent. 
The estimated number of interior lakes is 648, and the area of 
lake surface 466,550 acres. The average height of these natural 
reservoirs, above the level of the sea, is 1,000 feet ; one of the 
fine lakes in the Adirondack, is 3,000 feet above the sea, and in 
that region the average height is over 1,500 feet, while the rivers 
and streams that emanate from them, fall with great rapidity of 
descent towards the sea level. The amount of water-power 
which is thus developed, is simply enormous. If all the motive- 
power of this kind existing in the State, were properly utilized, 
it would be greater than that of all the rest of the United States, 



excluding the State of Maine. The principal rivers of the State 
are the Hudson, the Mohawk, the Delaware, the Susquehanna, the 
Chenango.the Chemung, the Genesee, and the Alleghany,each hav- 
ing distinct valleys of drainage, while the Adirondack region is 
drained by the Black, the Rackette, the Grass, the St. Regis, the 
Au Sable, the Saranac, and the Sacondaga. The Hudson drains all 
of the Appalachian region of the State, and with the Sacondaga 
drains the south-easterly portion of the Adirondack region. 
The Mohawk, although lying along the southerly base of the 
Adirondack and having a very broad natural valley, has a limited 
area of drainage. Its principal affluent being the Schoharie, 
which drains the southerly and westerly slope of the Catskill 
Mountains. The Delaware drains the counties of Delaware and 
Sullivan, and a large portion of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. 
The Susquehanna which takes its rise in Otsego Lake, in Otsego 
County, drains, together with its branches, the Chenango and 
Chemung, most of the southern tier of counties. While the 
Genesee, the only river flowing directly north, drains a com- 
paratively limited area beyond its own immediate valley. The 
Alleghany with its branches, drains the south-western portion of 
the State. 

THE DIVIDING VALLEYS. 

The area of the State is trisected by the valleys of the Hud- 
son and the Mohawk, which intersect each other at right angles, 
and constitute the key to its topography. 

These valleys were the hunting trails and the war-paths of the 
aboriginies ; the strategic lines of contending armies of Euro- 
peans ; and are now the broad avenues of a peaceful commerce, 
the bond of a perpetual unity, and the exponent of the increasing 
prosperity of the nation. 

The three divisions which are thus formed, are each peculiarly 
distinct, both in their topography and their geology. Each seems 
to have separate epochs of existence, each is a separate volume 
of the earth's great legends of antiquity. 

THE FIRST DIVISION. 

The first division is that portion of the State which lies east of 
the Hudson river. Although constituting but seven of the sixty 
counties into which the commonwealth is politically divided, its 
population is larger than any of the States of the Union with 
the exception of five, and there are two States whose combined 



8 

area does not equal it in extent, while one other is but a little 
larger. Geologically, this district is almost entirely composed 
of the remnant of a continent which is no longer in existence. 
Itself the crystallized and metamorphosed sediments of wasted 
mountains, it became in turn the rocky shore of avast sea in 
which the present continent had its origin. The rocks, minerals 
and metallic deposits of this region, have been the study and 
puzzle of geologists for years, while even now it periodically 
vibrates and trembles with the earthquake-shock that tells of 
dormant life or slumbering fires beneath it. The topographical 
descriptions of this district begin with the island of Manhattan 
which forms the lower portion of the city of New York. This 
island is twelve miles long and from one-half a mile to two miles 
and a quarter broad. The basic rock is Gneiss, with the excep- 
tion of a deposit of limestone at the northern extremity. The 
strata have been turned up to a vertical position, and an elevated 
ridge extends nearly the whole length of the island, varying in 
height from seventy to one hundred and twenty-five feet. The 
ridge is broken at the northern end of the Island, admitting the 
passage of the waters of the Hudson river, but rises again in 
Westchester County, and continues northward at an increasing 
elevation. At the northeast point of the island are extensive 
alluvial flats, a portion of which are overflowed by the tide. For- 
merly a number of running streams of water existed on the 
island, the general course of which was north and south, empty- 
ing into the adjacent waters, where breaks in the rocky formation 
would admit. These streams have nearly all been filled up and 
their flow obstructed to the manifest detriment of health. 

No metalliferous deposits have been found,but excellent building 
stone of granite and limestone have been quarried in several 
localities. 

The original topography is rapidly disappearing in the grading 
of avenues and construction of buildings. 

Passing northward to the main land we find the same basic 
rock. The single elevated ridge of the island gives place to a 
succession of nearly parallel ridges with intervening valleys. A 
section across "Westchester County at Hastings, twenty miles 
from the City Hall, shows six of these ridges. There are, however, 
two predominant lines of elevation in this county attaining an 
elevation of 1,500 ft., one along the Hudson, and the other on the 
easterly border. They all become merged into the high lands of 
Putnam County. These Highlands consist of several steep rocky 



9 

targes extending in a northeast and southwest directiottj 
separated by deep narrow valleys. Numerous lofty peaks tower 
above the surrounding mountains, from which are views of great 
extent and picturesque beauty. As far as the eye can reach a 
continuous series of rocky summits extend to the farthest 
horizon. Interspersed between the ridges and sometimes 
attaining very great elevations are many fine lakes, some of them 
very extensive sheets of water, a large number being often visible 
from a single point of view, sparkling in the sunlight like jewels 
in a diadem of mountains with which nature has crowned a 
glorious landscape. The deep shadows of the narrow valleys 
serve to heighten the beauty of the scene by increasing the relief 
of the mountains, while the rivers, which meander at their base, 
appear like tortuous threads of silver. The low intervening hills 
of gravel and sand, formed in the whirling torrents of an early 
period, are clothed in emerald verdure or covered with luxuriant 
forests. Geologically, the Highlands of Putnam County as well 
as those of Orange County on the opposite side of the Hudson 
river, are the continuation of the primitive rocks of the Appa- 
lachian chain. In Dutchess County the Mattewan mountains 
form the northern limit of " the Highlands " in this State. Its 
highest summits attain the elevation of 1,700 feet. Next to these 
mountains on the east, and separated from them by a broad 
valley, are the Taghanick mountains, which extend along the east 
border of Dutchess County and northerly through Columbia, 
Rensselaer and Washington Counties into Vermont, forming 
the foot hills or easterly slope of the Green Mountains. This 
formation is entirely distinct from that of the Highlands, being 
composed of Metamorphic limestone and slate. Parallel to this 
range in the west are the Petersburgh mountains, which, com- 
mencing in an elevated plateau in the northern part of Columbia 
County, extends through Rensselaer and Washington Counties. 
These mountains belong geologically to what is known as the 
Hudson river group, composed of shale, slate and limestone. 
In some places they rise as high as 2,000 feet above the sea. The 
declivities are usually steep. Nearly parallel to this and still 
farther to the west, there is in Washington County a range 
known as the Palmerstown mountains which forms a portion of 
the Adirondack system. They consist principally of gneiss, 
granite sandstone and impure limestone. Their sides are very 
precipitous and broken, and their summits are wild, irregular 
masses of naked barren rocks. The valleys between them are 



10 

narrow and rocky, often bordered by precipices many hundred 
feet high. These, in brief, constitute the chief topographical 
features of this division of the State. 

Hydrographically, the Hudson Eiver forms the entire eastern 
border, and between all the ranges and lines of elevations even 
down to the lesser ridges, there are drainage streams of greater 
or less extent ; some are rivers of no inconsiderable volume, sup- 
plying with their numerous branches a large aggregate of water- 
power, which is made available for the use of innumerable mills 
and factories. The general course of the streams is southerly, 
and nearly all of them empty into the Hudson. The principal of 
these are the Bronx, the Nepperhan, and the Croton, which, rising 
in Dutchess County and passing through Putnam and the northern 
part of Westchester, constitutes with its branches the chief source 
of water supply for the City of New York. Three large storage 
reservoirs constructed in Westchester and Putnam Counties, 
holding many millions of gallons, retain these waters for dis- 
tribution and use when the ordinary flow of the River fails to 
meet the demand. The Sawkill, Fishkill, and Wappinger's Creeks, 
the Claverack and Kinderhook, the Hoosick and Baten Kill, are all 
noted streams which drain the principal valleys. Besides these, 
are numerous and beautiful lakes throughout the entire division, 
the resort of many thousands of people in the summer months. 
The economic resources of all this region are varied and valuable, 
embracing many varieties and extensive deposits of granite, 
marble, serpentine steatite, slate and iron ore. 

GRANITE. 

Granite occurs abundantly in New York, Westchester, Putnam 
and Dutchess Counties. It presents all varieties of texture, from a 
very coarse grained rock to one almost perfectly compact. In color 
it varies as much as in texture. It is white, red, gray, yellowish, 
and bluish gray, according to the color of the minerals forming it. 
The color of the feldspar usually determines that of the mass. 
It occurs in beds, in veins, in interstratified masses, and in 
knobs, knots and protruding masses, in which no connection 
with beds or veins have been traced. The more common mode 
of its occurrence is in beds ten to one hundred feet thick, inter- 
stratified with gneiss. 

The materials are of the best quality, easily quarried in large 
blocks suitable for columns, cornices, etc., easily dressed, endur- 
ing as time, which the naked crags themselves will testify. 



11 

MARBLE. 
The granular limestone or marble of this region, especially that 
found in Dutchess, Columbia and Westchester Counties, is very- 
extensive, and does not yield to any other mineral deposit in 
those counties in prospective value. Marble quarries are exten- 
sively worked in many portions of this limestone range. It extends 
through the greater part of the length of these counties and 
crops out with a variable breadth from a few hundred yards to 
several miles. The marble business is one that will always em- 
ploy much labor .and capital, and as this valuable material is 
inexhaustible in any definite period of time, it will always be an 
unfailing source of wealth. 

SERPENTINE. 

The Serpentine quarries of Putnam County, are sufficient to 
supply the market, not only of our own country but the world, 
with this kind of ornamental marble for a long period of time. 
It is a beautiful material when polished, is exceedingly rare in 
Europe. In ancient times it was used in some of the Spanish 
palaces with fine architectural effect. 

STEATITE. 

Steatite, commonly known as soapstone, is very abundant in 

Putnam and Dutchess Counties. It is quarried in large blocks, 

beautifully spotted and colored. Good quarries of this rock are 

very valuable, and the use of the material is steadily increasing. 

IRON ORE. 
The iron ore of Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess and Columbia 
Counties is very abundant and of the best quality. It exists in 
extensive beds in the form of Hematite, and also in immense 
deposits as Magnetic Oxide. Many mines are in active opera- 
tion, and numerous furnaces have been constructed along the 
Hudson river and iu the interior. The quantity of pig-iron 
manufactured is increasing every year, employing many men and 
a large capital. 

SILVER AND LEAD. 
Deposits of silver and lead have been found in Dutchess County, 
and have been worked with more or less success. Recent explor- 
ations and analysis indicate extensive and valuable veins of sil- 
ver, and arrangements for deep mining are now being projected. 



12 

INTERIOR COMMUNICATION. 

Extensive lines of railway both longitudinal and transverse 
with numerous lateral branches, have been constructed through- 
out the whole of this region. Along the east bank of the Hud- 
son, and through the valleys of the Nepperhan, the Bronx, the 
Croton, the Hoosick, and Baten Kill, railways have been built 
connecting this section with all the New England States. In 
the north, through Washington County, the Chaniplain Canal 
connects the waters of Lake Champlain with those of the Hud- 
son. Large and populous cities, prosperous towns and villages, 
an active, intelligent and enterprising population engaged 
in the industrial pursuits of commerce, agriculture, mines and 
manufactures, exhibit throughout the length and breadth of this 
area unrivaled evidences of energy and thrift. 

Properly speaking, Long Island and Staten Island, with the 
smaller insular territory in the Harbor of New York, as well as 
the Harbor itself, belong topographically to this Division. 

Long Island, 120 miles long by 10 broad, is of drift alluvial origin. 

Staten Island, 14 miles long by 8 broad, is a granitic forma- 
tion interspersed with serpentine steatite. There are valuable 
deposits of hematite iron ore and fire- clay on this island. The 
quality of the iron ore and the advantages of its proximity to 
tide water are attracting the attention of ironmasters, and it is 
stated that iron can be manufactured here at an expense much 
less than at any other locality. 

HARBOR OF NEW YORK. 
The Harbor of New York consists of the harbor proper and an 
outer roadstead, called the Lower Bay. The latter being parti- 
ally protected from the sea by the island of Sandy Hook (almost 
a peninsula), which stretches out from the coast of New Jersey 
in a northerly direction, about six miles in length and three- 
quarters of a mile broad. The main channel into the bay 
passes near the extremity of Sandy Hook, between which and 
the coast of Long Island, a distance of seven miles, is an im- 
mense shoal, through which pass three lesser channels into the 
harbor. The bar to the entrance lies three miles off Sandy Hook. 
On it there is a depth of water of from 21 to 23 feet. The Lower 
Bay contains one hundred square miles of water surface, receiv- 
ing from the West the waters of the Raritan river, which is 74 miles 
in length, passing through the red sandstone formation of New 
Jersey. The outer bay connects with the harbor proper at the 



13 

Narrows, a strait formed by the approximation of the shores of 
Long Island and Staten Island. There is also another connec- 
tion formed around the western shore of Staten Island, by the 
Staten Island Sound, as it is called, which meets at Newark Bay 
the united waters of the Passaic and Hackensack rivers. The 
former is 70 miles in length, passing through the New Eed 
sandstone formation, and having at one point a fall of 70 
feet. The latter is 10 miles in length, passing through red sand- 
stone and conglomerate. Newark Bay is also connected with the 
Harbor by the Kill von Kull, a narrow strait. 

The principal affluent of the harbor is the Hudson River, which 
rises in the mountains of Hamilton and Essex counties, New 
York, is 350 miles long, passing through granite and calcareous 
formations ; the principal tributary being the Mohawk, 155 miles 
long, with a fall of 75 feet, two miles from the junction. The 
Hudson is navigable for large ships a distance of 118 miles. It is 
connected with the Great Lakes by the canal at Albany, and with 
Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence river by the Northern 
Canal. The river divides at the northern extremity of Manhat- 
tan Island, forming what is called the Harlem Biver, which 
empties into the East River, an arm of the sea connecting the 
harbor with Long Island Sound — thus forming a second opening 
to the ocean. The harbor contains 21 miles of water surface. 
The harbor thus formed is the finest on the continent, if not in 
the world. The navies of all nations can ride in safety within 
its limits, and the largest vessels ever constructed can enter 
without difficulty, and yet it is but one of the many lavish gifts 
bestowed by Nature on this favored State. 

THE SECOND DIVISION. 

The second division comprises that section of the State lying 
south of Lake Ontario and the M^liawk river and west of 
the Hudson. It contains forty-one c mnties. With the ex- 
ception of a small portion occupying the south-easteni corner, 
this division belongs to the great paleozoic basin, which extends 
from the Appalachian range to the Rocky Mountains, constitut- 
ing the great part of North America. Formed in the ocean's 
bed from the ruins of a wasted continent, and of a succession of 
vast deposits during alternate periods of elevation and subsi- 
dence, the whole series of stratified rocks that underlie this por- 
tion of the State, from the magnesian base of the lower silurian 
to the storm-worn cliffs of red sandstone that crown the highest 



14 

peaks of the Catskill Mountains, tell in unmistakable language, 
the history of the material world through unnumbered ages of 
time. The several formations have a general geological des- 
ignation as the Lower and Upper Silurian and Devonian sys- 
tems, while the more detailed divisions, embracing many suc- 
cessive and distinct epochs of creation, have received a no- 
menclature in accordance with the localities where they are most 
clearly shown. There are twelve of these divisions, having an 
entire thickness in this State of 13,000 feet, but which it is not 
necessary for the purposes of this paper to enumerate. They 
are characterized by the circumstances of alternate elevation and 
depression under which they were formed. Sometimes in the 
bed of an open sea, and again in a land-locked basin of fresh water, 
while at other times the waters were limited to the area of a salt 
lake or great dead sea, whose bitter and saline waters were des- 
titute of animal life, leaving, however, for future ages a deposit 
which is now one of the most productive sources of industry in 
the State. The salts of the rocks formed at this period are 
found in solution in waters issuing from the strata. The salt 
wells at Salina, in the county of Onondaga, are from 150 to 300 
feet in depth, and at Syracuse, in the same county, ihey are be- 
tween 250 and 350 feet deep. Thirty-five to forty-five gallons of 
this water afford, on evaporation, a bushel of salt ; while it takes 
350 gallons of sea-water to produce the same result. The salt- 
works of this section are on a large scale and of great import- 
ance. 

In consequence of the deep erosion of the river valleys, all of 
the geological formations are exposed to view in one place or 
another ; while the two uppermost, that are known as the 
Chemung group and the Catskill group, predominate over all 
the surface of that portion of the State now under consideration. 
Through the central part of this division stretches, from east to 
west, an extensive plateau, rising to the west and south, but 
broken through by many transverse valleys, and descending by a 
series of terraces to Lake Ontario. In those transverse valleys 
lie embedded that wonderful chain of lakes which make the 
topography of this part of the State so remarkable. 

THE LINES OF ELEVATION. 

The first and most easterly line of elevation in the second 
division is the extension into the easterly part of Kockland 
County of the Palisades or basaltic ridge from New Jersey 



15 

along the west bank of the Hudson. This is a volcanic 
intrusion of trap rock through the red sandstone formation. 
The Highland range which is parallel to this, is composed 
of a great number of mountain ridges, occupying a belt 
of country 20 miles in width, extending through Kockland 
and Orange Counties in a north-easterly direction to the 
Hudson, being the continuation of the Appalachian range. 
These are not long unbroken lines of elevation, but a succession of 
ridges, which are not really in line with each other. The scenery 
in this region is grand and imposing. Numerous lakes are nestled 
in the hollows of the mountains. Vast deposits of iron ore are 
found throughout this range, as well as quarries of excellent 
granite. 

Along the northwest portion of Orange County, the Blue 
mountains extend in a high unbroken range, known as the 
Shawangunk mountains, to the height of 2,000 feet. Its long 
unbroken crest is clothed with forests, and which with the 
highly cultivated slopes form a pleasing and beautiful landscape. 
Between the Blue mountains and the Highlands lies the broad 
undulating valley which is a part of the great valley of the 
United States, extending from Canada to Tennessee, known 
in New York as the valley of Lake Champlain and the Hudson 
River, in New Jersey as the Kittany Valley, in Pennsylvania and 
Maryland as the Cumberland Valley, in Virginia as the Shenan- 
doah and Great Valleys, and in Tennessee as the Valley of East 
Tennessee. It is everywhere noted for its rural beauty and 
agricultural wealth. 

This is in fact the true extension of the valley of the Hudson. 
Through it vast, deep, and rapid torrents of water coming from 
the Champlain valley, have more than once passed southward to 
the sea, bearing in their currents much of the original surface 
which now forms the rich alluvial lands of the Atlantic border. 

The next line of elevation to the west of the Blue ridge is 
composed of the sedimentary deposits which form the Catskill and 
Helderberg range of mountains. Unlike the Appalachian Chain 
to which it is contiguous, which originated in the violent and 
convulsive throes of nature, and are upturned in wild confusion, 
the Catskills were formed in calm, untroubled waters, and with 
the exception of a gradual and gentle elevation of wide extent, 
these rocks have remained comparatively undisturbed, save by 
the erosive action of water, since their first creation. The area 
covered by this old red sandstone formation was very much 



1(1 

greater 4 than it is now, probably extending over a large portion of 
the lower half of the State, but by glacial and aqueous action it 
has been removed, leaving for the uppermost rocks the shales 
and sandstones of the Chemung group. 

THE GREAT PLATEAU. 
The rocks of the Chemung group overlie the principal portion 
of the plateau of the southern tier of counties. In this wide 
region there is a total absence of those rich mineral deposits, 
which characterize the Archean rocks of the eastern portion of 
the State. The scenery of its lakes and its long river channels 
is varied and beautiful. Its valleys and its hill tops are fertile, 
and their sides are clothed with verdure which tells of a wealth 
in the soil, greater, perhaps, than the mines and the marbles of 
the eastern side. This is the granary of the State ; the quiet 
peaceful homes of her yeomanry, where smiling fields and se- 
questered woodlands tell of cheerful toil, of domestic comfort, 
and of industry rewarded. Let us look for one moment at the 
results accomplished in this agricultural district. 

New England and New York. 

New England, the synonym of thrift and prosperity, contains 

13,000,000 more acres of land than New York. The last census 

gives us the following figures. The six New England States have 

an area of 13,742,323 acres, New York has 30,080,000 acres. 

New England. New York. 

Acres of Improved Ground 11,997,540 15,627,206 

Value of Farms 585,169,472 1,272,359,966 

Farm Implements and Machinery 22,553,059 45,997,612 

Value of Live Stock 100,521,907 175,881,712 

Value of Farm Products 154,026,300 253,526,153 

Bushels Wheat ; 1,000,693 12,178,462 

Corn 7,347,666 16,462,825 

" Oats 9,169,504 35,293,625 

Rye 703,379 2,478,225 

Buckwheat 1,189,413 3,904,030 

Barley 1,075,059 7,434,621 

Grain ground 20,918,415 45,663,123 

Value of Products 26,474,435 60,237,220 

Orchard Products 3,819,206 8,247,417 

Value of Leather Tanned 18,452,970 26,988,320 

Lbs. Butter..: 49,662,275 107,147,526 

Gals. Milk sold 21,044,175 1,135,771,919 

Lbs. Hops 987,409 17,558,681 

" Wool 6,043,863 10,599,225 

" Flax 19,741 3,670,818 

These statistics are given not for the purpose of drawing an 
invidious comparison, but because it is only by such a compari- 
son that the true extent of the resources of the State can be cor- 



17 

recfcly understood or appreciated, and to enable us to see what the 
great Western plateau of our State can produce, and no one will say 
that more than a fraction of our true resources have yet been devel- 
oped. 

THE LAKE REGION. 

The Lake chain which occupies the centre of the plateau, 
has always been a source of wonder and admiration to the stu- 
dent of natural history as well as to the lover of the beautiful in 
nature — the remarkable manner in which their united waters 
seek the same outlet into Lake Ontario ; the part these waters 
are made to play in the grand system of internal communication ; 
the strange freak of nature which has strung them together like 
a necklace of gems ; the historical associations which surround 
them ; the euphonious titles which recall the memories of the 
once powerful races of men who, vanishing forever from the earth, 
left nothing behind them save only their tribal appellations, in- 
scribed upon the beautiful sheets of water they loved so well and 
around whose shores their lives were passed. Truly it is fitting 
that Lakes Seneca, Cayuga, Oneida and Onondaga should be 
united in a natural chain which shall forever symbolize the links 
of friendship that bound those gallant clans whose names they 
bear in bonds of amity that death alone could sever. 

From the shores of these lakes the land slopes beautifully and 
evenly upward to the summit of the ridges which form their water 
sheds. The waters are clear and sparkling, and the whole lake 
region presents some of the finest landscapes in the country — 
Cayuga Lake is 38 miles long, Seneca Lake 35, Oneida 20, Can- 
andaigua 18, Chautauqua 18, Crooked Lake 14, Owasco 11, and 
Skaneateles 13. The origin of these lakes has been ascribed to 
glacial action. Naturalists, however, disagree as to the manner in 
which this action took place. On the supposition that the land 
was elevated previous to the ice period, when a large portion of 
the continent was covered with an immense ice cap, it has been 
suggested that the valleys of the lakes were groves worn out by 
the abrasion of the advancing glacier. Again it is surmised that 
the valleys were formed under water by the movements of im- 
mense icebergs over a plastic surface. Agassiz infers that they are 
the result of cracks or fissures made in the contraction of the sur- 
face, by exposure to the heat of the atmosphere, on the elevation 
of the land from beneath the waters which at one time covered it. 
But the topographical position which they occupy with relation to 



18 

each other, would seem to indicate an uniformity in the cause which 
has produced them that cannot be accounted for on any of the sup- 
positions named. Assuming as established that the glacial move- 
ment was from the northwest to the southeast, the receding 
of the glacier would take the opposite direction. In its dissolution 
an immense volume of water would be discharged from the melt- 
ing ice and would naturally descend in channels to the foot of the 
glacier, where being impinged with great force upon the earth, it 
would wear a deep channel which would be prolonged as the 
mass of ice receded. 

Looking at the location of the lake valleys we can readily con- 
ceive the torrents of water discharging themselves from the re- 
ceding glacier at the head of Cayuga and Seneca lakes,and a smaller 
one at the head^of Crooked Lake. This last lake is only 14 miles 
long, but simultaneously with its termination, the size of Seneca 
Lake is materially increased, as if the stream that formed it had 
been enlarged by having added to it the one that was forming 
Crooked Lake. Cayuga Lake is also increased in volume. And 
the heads of a number of smaller lakes appear on the same line, 
indicating a great increase of temperature and a consequent 
increase in the number of torrents discharged from the melting 
and receding ice-field. All of these lakes, large and small, ter- 
minate on nearly the same line, where the erosion of the Mohawk 
Valley begins, as if the glacier having reached that line, the 
volume of water, caused by its rapid dissolution was discharged 
through that valley. In connection with this lake system, there 
is one feature which, although less striking than any other, and 
affording to the casual observer nothing to impress or interest, is 
nevertheless an object of deep concern to every citizen, not only 
in its economical aspects, but also in its influence upon the general 
welfare. I refer to the enormous area of saturated soil caused 
by the level character of the upper lake terrace. From Buffalo 
to Utica there is very little of this terrace, ten miles wide and 
more than a hundred miles long, that is entirely free from 
the blighting influence of the immense swamp district that is 
there formed by the want of a sufficient outlet for the waters that 
accumulate on the surface. In times of excessive rain, all the 
lakes in consequence of their connection with each other, are 
under the influence of this excess of water. So that the cities of 
Auburn, Ithaca, Syracuse and Utica, as well as the smaller towns 
and villages, and all the inhabitants of this otherwise beautiful 
and highly favored region, are sufferers to a degree that[is almost 



19 

incredible. And all this for the want of an outlet for the super- 
abundant waters, which can be readily and economically con- 
structed. 

THE THIRD DIVISION. 

The third division of the State, or that part lying north of the 
Mohawk, and east of the Champlain valley, is comprised almost 
entirely of the Adirondack region. This wild and picturesque 
mountain elevation is composed of rocks of the Archean or 
primitive period. It was an island while all the rest of the State 
was under the sea. Its magnificent and picturesque scenery 
makes it one of the most inviting spots in the world. Vast stores 
of mineral wealth and geological wonders abound on every side. 
The beauty and grandeur of the mountains, lakes and forests, 
have given it the name of the American Switzerland. Volumes 
could easily be written in the detailed description of this section. 
It embraces twelve of the largest counties, and occupies one- 
third of the area of the entire State. Although a large portion 
of it is totally unfit for cultivation, yet it is a region of great 
value. Its stores of iron are enormous. In one spot a large 
river has poured its torrents for ages over a dam of native iron. 

What is known as the Adirondack Mountains,consists of several 
distinct and nearly parallel ranges, although the spans which 
are thrown off from the different ridges, interlock each other to 
such an extent as to give the whole the appearance of a confused 
and irregular upheavel. The highest summits are attained in 
the county of Essex, which lies in the eastern part, bordering 
on Lake Champlain, the wildest portion of this wild region. 
Lofty peaks, immense mountain masses, broken crags and high 
precipices, deep gorges and narrow ravines, characterize the en- 
tire landscape. The several ranges have received so many dif- 
ferent local names that it is difficult to describe them. Dix's 
Peak, the highest point of which is called the Bouquet Range, is 
5,200 feet above tide, Mount Marcy, the highest point in the 
Clinton range, is 5,4G7 feet above tide, and the point of greatest 
elevation. 

Mounts McMartin, Mclntyre and San-da-no-na, belonging to 
the same range, are all upwards of 5,000 feet high ; Mount Sew- 
ard of the Au Salle range, is 5,100 feet above tide. In the valleys 
between the mountain ranges, are several remarkable chains of 
lakes, generally long and narrow and bordered by the steep moun- 
tain sides. Indian Lake, Lake Pleasant, Schrone Lake, St Regis 



20 

Lake and others to the number of several hundred, form most 
interesting features in the landscape. The centre of the region 
forms an irregular mountain plateau, tilled with innumerable 
lakes and swamps, from which many of the rivers take their rise. 
Of late years the lakes and forest of the Adirondacks have be- 
come a popular resort for tourists and pleasure seekers, so that 
much that was previously unknown is becoming familiar ; a rail- 
way penetrates to the heart of the iron district, and numerous 
summer hotels have been erected in different sections. 

The chief value of this area to the people of the State consists 
in the vast natural reservoirs of water which the large and nu- 
merous lakes of this region constitute. The necessity for storing 
and husbanding the water supply of the Adirondacks as a means 
for increasing the volume of the Hudson river in times of drouth, 
have become so apparent, that the State has taken active steps to 
carry out the plans requisite to secure this object. The destruc- 
tion of the forest along the watershed of that river, has natur- 
ally injured its navigation, and the remedy proposed for this evil 
cannot be too soon or too fully accomplished. 

It is impossible in a brief paper to give anything more than 
a mere outline of the remarkable resources of the State. To the 
early recognition of their importance and value is due the pre- 
eminent position it now occupies. 

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 

In the last century, at the close of the war of the revolution, 
General Washington's anxious solicitude for the welfare of the 
country led him to a thoughtful consideration of the means by 
which its newly formed bonds could be more firmly secured. 
He saw the necessity of uniting the east and west by artificial 
means of communication and by the improvement of the natural 
channels. To this end he made a personal and careful examin- 
ation of the topography of the State of New York. Having 
been an engineer, he was competent to understand the relations 
which topography bore to transportation. And, in a letter to the 
Marquis of Chastellux, written at the time, he says: "I have 
lately made a tour through the Lakes, George and Champlain, 
as far as Crown Point — then returning to Schenectady, I pro- 
ceeded up the Mohawk river to Fort Schuyler, crossed over to 
Wood Creek, which empties into the Oneida Lake, and affords 
the water connection with Ontario. I then traversed the country 
to the eastern banks of the Susquehanna, and viewed the Lake 



21 

Otsego and the portage between that Lake and the Mohawk river 
at Canajoharie. Prompted by these actual observations I could 
not help taking a more contemplative and extensive view of the 
vast inland navigation of the United States, and could not but 
be struck with the immense diffusion and importance of it, and 
with the goodness of that Providence who has dealt His favors 
to us with so profuse a hand. Would to God we may have wis- 
dom enough to improve them. " 

The natural advantages thus graphically outlined by General 
Washington, became a subject of careful investigation under the 
authority of the State, resulting in the successful execution of those 
plans of internal improvement, which are at once the pride and 
glory of the State. These public works have, in their ultimate 
results, exceeded the most sanguine anticipations of those states- 
men, to whose wisdom and foresight, their conception is due, and 
to them, the City of New York is chiefly indebted for its pre-em- 
inence as a commercial City. The Erie Canal is a monument of 
skill and enterprise, of which the citizens of the State may be 
justly proud. Its construction was authorized in 1817, and it was 
completed in 1825, at a cost of $7,113,789.86. Its completion was 
an era not only in the history of the State, but also an era in 
the history of the country, for by it, a commercial highway was 
opened to the Great West, along which has moved the silent but 
resistless tide of immigration, which has spread itself through the 
valley of the Mississippi, creating States, erecting cities, and de- 
veloping the wonderful resources of a vast country, which but 
yesterday was a wilderness in the undisputed possession of savages 
and wild beasts. Every five years adds more than a million re- 
cruits to the great industrial armies, which, while creating homes 
for themselves, return here the product of their labor, and thus 
pay constant tribute to the commercial emporium. Thus the 
wonderful growth of the City of New York has become the ex- 
ponent of the rise and progress of the Republic, while its pros- 
perity dates from the completion of the Erie Canal. There are 
many yet living who heard the exulting shouts that went up from 
the Atlantic to the Lakes, when on the 26th day of October, 1825, 
the signal guns, placed at intervals for five hundred and thirteen 
miles from Buffalo to New York, announced to listening thou- 
sands, that the first boat from Lake Erie, had entered the west- 
ern canal, to be conveyed to the ocean ; and who saw also that 
triumphal procession as it moved through the streets of the city, 



22 

in which all the trades and industries vied with each other in 
testifying in the most appropriate manner their joy at the com- 
pletion of a work, to them the dawn of a new prosperity. 

It was a coronation day ! for Industry was that day crowned 
King in the Metropolis of free America. Not Westminster, nor 
Rheims, nor pagan Rome, ever witnessed so grand a scene. 
There were no gilded Chariots, nor purple robes, but simply a 
long line of artisans working at their trades, exhibiting their joy 
by asserting in their pride of manhood the dignity of labor. 
None who were present can ever forget the simple grandeur of 
the occasion. Just half a century has passed since that day of 
exultation, and the solemn questions have been asked of the cit- 
izens of the State and city — Have we been true to the high trust 
which was that day imposed upon us ? Has the gift that day be- 
queathed to posterity been kept untarnished, to be handed down 
in its purity t© future generations ? If official corruption and 
private greed have impaired the value of this great public boon 
and blessing, let us see to it, that such a stain be thoroughly 
erased from the otherwise fair escutcheon of our State. 

Besides the Erie Canal there are twelve so called Lateral Canals, 
some of which were constructed to supply the main Canal with 
water. The total cost of all the canals was $64,710,836.94. Most 
of the lateral canals were built to open up the forest lands of the 
State, and as the forests have been in a great measure removed 
these canals have ceased to be a source of revenue, on the contrary, 
are a tax upon the State. It is proposed to dispose of them, or 
discontinue them as State, works, and to concentrate the resources 
and energies of the government upon the maintenance and im- 
provement of the Main Line. This is a measure of such clear 
and just policy that there should be no delay or hesitation in 
adopting it. For so long as the revenues of the trunk line are 
diverted to the useless maintenance of the lateral lines, so long 
will the commerce of the State be taxed by high rates of transpor- 
tation. The effects upon the grain trade are too apparent to 
need discussion, and the permanent diversion of this trade to 
other channels will be the inevitable consequence of a persistence 
in the present course. 

Time will not permit me to dwell further upon the interesting 
subject of the resources of the State of New York. This brief 
review is a mere indication of what they are. 

I am sure, however, that no citizen can contemplate its wonder- 



23 

ful advantages and its great prosperity without a feeling of deep 
pride in the Present — a profound respect and veneration for 
those who guided its councils in the Past — and a strong hope 
and fervent faith in the Future. 

At the close of the address, which commanded the close atten- 
tion of the large audience to the end, the Eev. William Adams, 
D.D., moved that the thanks of the Society be tendered to Gene- 
ral Viele, and that a copy of the paper be requested for publica- 
tion. Dr. Adams stated that the subject was one of great inter- 
est to every citizen, and that he had felt deeply impressed by the 
exhibit which had been presented of the resources of the State. 
And referring to the suggestion which had been made by a 
member of the Society, that the Governments of Europe were 
more liberal to science than the United States, he expressed the 
belief, that through the graduates of the Military Academy at 
West Point, of which the speaker of the evening was one, the 
United States had conferred more benefit on the cause of science 
than any appropriation of money could accomplish. 



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